Lyra Silvertongue
Lyra Belacqua '''(born in 1984), also known as '''Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. Lyra was born of an out-of-wedlock affair between Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter. She was brought up at Jordan College, with the scholars, the professors, and the servants all acting as a sort of collective family. She was raised believing that her father was a Count and that both her parents had died in an airship crash, and that Lord Asriel was her uncle. She later learns the truth about her parentage from John Faa, leader of the Gyptian's. Lyra lived a generally undisciplined life in Oxford. She was clever and curious, but extremely independent; as a result, her education was patchy because she applied herself only to subjects that caught her interest. A natural leader, she spent much of her time adventuring in and around the college with her friend Roger Parslow, exploring, pulling pranks, climbing on roofs, and leading clay fights with children from the College, the town of Oxford, and Gyptian families. Her life changes after the arrival of the General Oblation Board and their kidnapping of Roger. Before she knows it, she finds herself involved in a great war between Lord Asriel and The Authority. Character .]] Lyra is portrayed as dark-blonde, blue-eyed, and rambunctious. She is thin and short for her age, which ranges from 11 to 13 throughout the books. She is a rebellious and unruly child, and often exasperates those who try to care for her, such as the Jordan housekeeper and her tutors. Though she receives little formal education, she is quick-witted and canny. When Lyra leaves Jordan College, the Master of the College entrusts to her one of the few remaining alethiometers that has not been captured or destroyed by the Magisterium. Lyra supposes he means her to deliver it to Lord Asriel. However, after a little practice she discovers that she can read the alethiometer by relying solely on her intuition, rather than the years of study that ability normally takes. Lyra earns the name "Lyra Silvertongue" when she fools Iofur Raknison, the King of the Panserbjørne – or Armoured Bears – into believing that she is the dæmon of his defeated rival Iorek Byrnison, and that she is willing to change sides for the "strongest bear." She thus persuades Iofur (who, contrary to bear nature, is obsessed with the idea of having his own dæmon) to engage in single combat with Iorek rather than release the entire force of armoured bears against him. Despite her faith in Iorek, Lyra fears she may have sent him to his doom against the healthier and better-equipped Iofur, so when she meets Iorek and confesses to what she has done, she fears Iorek will think she has betrayed him. To her surprise, Iorek, impressed and grateful, calls her "Lyra Silvertongue," and destroys Iofur in their duel. She adopts Silvertongue as her new surname, both out of pride that Iorek has gifted her with such a name and because she is estranged from her father after his murder of Roger Parslow. Pantalaimon Lyra's dæmon, Pantalaimon, is her dearest companion and the embodiment of her soul. In common with all dæmons of children, he can take any animal form he pleases; he first appears in the story in the shape of a moth. His name is that of a saint in the Orthodox Christian Churches, St. Panteleimon, and in Greek means "all-forgiving." He changes into many forms throughout the series, ranging from a leopard to a dragon, but his favorite forms are a snow-white ermine, a moth, and a mouse. Lyra and Pantalaimon must be separated when they enter the World of the Dead, causing extreme pain to both of them. Pantalaimon avoids Lyra for a while afterwards; however, by their separation, the two have gained the ability to be physically distant from each other, a trait only witches and shamans possess. Pantalaimon settles on his final form, a pine marten, when Lyra's friend Will Parry, touches him. Pantalaimon is regularly called 'Pan.' Northern Lights Coming soon... The Subtle Knife Coming soon... The Amber Spyglass Coming soon... Lyra's Destiny In the first novel of His Dark Materials, Northern Lights (known in the United States of America as The Golden Compass), Serafina Pekkala tells of the prophecy of a girl who is "destined to bring about the end of destiny," at the expense of a great betrayal. The witches' prophecy states that this girl will be able pick the "correct" cloud-pine branch out of several, as indeed Lyra does. It transpires that Lyra's destiny is literally to be the second Eve and to fall into the temptation of the serpent, represented by Mary Malone, who tells Lyra and her friend Will Parry, the series' other main protagonist, about her own first love. When Mary's story kindles passion between Lyra and Will, the catastrophic destruction of Dust is corrected and the universes start to work again in harmony. Lyra fulfills her destiny to "bring an end to death" by leading the ghosts out of the world of the dead. The great betrayal is Lyra's abandonment of Pantalaimon on the beach outside the world of the dead, as described in The Amber Spyglass. An alternate argument is that the foretold betrayal occurs when Lyra leads Roger to Lord Asriel on Svalbard at the end of the first book. Relationships Pantalaimon Lyra is very close to her daemon Pantalaimon, who is the embodiment of her soul. She frequently calls him 'Pan'. He is a lot more mature than Lyra, and often tries to convince her otherwise when he thinks she is doing something too risky. But he has also openly admitted Lyra is a lot braver than him, such as when, in the Retiring Room, he calls himself a coward. He has also saved Lyra once from night-ghasts when he changed into a lion and roared at them. Even though they are polar opposites, the two are very close. Will Parry Lyra first meets Will Parry in another world, when she comes charging through a doorway, sees him, and promptly tries to start a fight with him. At first she thought he was a severed child, but realised he was not when she saw his actions were not like those of a zombi. Will gave her food and drink and took her into our world. The two became great friends and the only companions they had. They soon began to stick up for each other when they were in danger, and by the end of The Amber Spyglass the two had fallen deeply in love with each other. As described by Will: "I don't know what to do. I want to lie here with you, and kiss you, be with you forever". Lyra reflects the feelings - and they share a special few pages together before they are seperated into their different worlds. But Lyra vows to find Will again, to spend eternity with him. Both their daemons (Will's appeared when he entered Lyra's world) awent into their settled forms when they got touched, a key figure in Lyra and Will's relationship. Pantamolian settled as a Pine Marten, and Kirjava, Will's daemon, settled as a bushy cat. Lord Asriel Lyra had a rather patchy relationship with her father. She was raised believing he was her uncle, and was frightened of him. Lord Asriel was harsh and domineering, and when he murders Lyra's friend Roger Parslow, she estranges herself from him forever. Marisa Coulter (Mrs. Coulter) Lyra also had a rather strained relationship with her mother, Mrs Coulter. When she goes to her apartment the first time she thinks it is a dream come true; but then at a cocktail party she hears that she is the head of the General Oblation Board. Disgusted, Lyra runs away to the Gyptians, and in Bolvangar she is captured by the Gobblers herself. They try and permanently slice Lyra away from Pantalaimon, but Mrs Coulter charges in just as the machine is starting up and snatches her away. Mrs Coulter is very protective of her daughter and loves her, but the same cannot be said for Lyra, who is extremely independant and is disgusted that her mother is a soul-snatcher. Lee Scorsbey Lee Scorsbey is an aeronaut in His Dark Materials series: he first appears in the Golden Compass, and finds a quick attatchment to Lyra. In the second book, The Subtle Knife, he admits to the witch Serafina Pekkala that he feels an almost fatherly feeling towards Lyra, as he doesn't have any children of his is, and no wife. His daemon is a cat named Hester, who is constantly described with her eyes squinted and here ears back. She is very supportive to Lee, but in some ways they are the same as Pantamolian and Lyra, they are polar opposites, but still life companions. Serafina Pekkala Serafina Pekkala is a witch queen, who Lyra first meets on the Gyptian's ship, travelling north. Serafina plays a minor role in the Golden Compass, but appears frequently in the second and third books. In fact, during The Subtle Knife, one half of the story follows Will and Lyra, but the other half follows Serafina Pekkala, and a group of her top witches, which follow her to find Lord Asriel in the other worlds. Her daemon is a white goose, Kaisia. Behind the Scenes Lyra in Other Media Film In the film adaptation of the first book, released under the book's American name The Golden Compass, Lyra is portrayed by twelve-year-old London schoolgirl Dakota Blue Richards, who won the role after beating out 10,000 other hopeful candidates. Theater The National Theatre in London put on a two part, three hour long, adaptation of the novels. The play ran twice; in 2003 and 2004. Lyra was played by Anna Maxwell Martin in the first run, and by Elaine Symons in the second. Scottish Youth Theatre have recently (July-August 2007) put on the Scottish premier of the production with Kirstie Steele and Sarah Ord playing Lyra in part one and two respectively. Category:Characters Category:hero Category:protagonists